


Broken Wings

by SweetLittleDarling



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt Peter, May's Abusive Boyfriend, Peter Parker Whump, Physical Abuse, Protective Team, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-01-05 14:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18367505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetLittleDarling/pseuds/SweetLittleDarling
Summary: A month after Thanos is killed, Peter Parker is finally getting back into the rhythm of his old life: high school junior by day and superhero by night. Aunt May shakes things up by introducing Peter to her boyfriend who Peter sees as an ordinary guy, perfect for May.Tony Stark should have realized something was wrong when he saw the first bruise. As a mentor it was the least that he could do.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading everyone! I'm kind of nervous about writing this type of fic, hopefully it turns out alright : )

**Chapter One**

“Oof.” Sixteen year old Peter Parker grimaced as his SAT book fell flat on his face. He wrinkled his nose. As a junior he should be studying and focusing on his SAT especially since he lost months thanks to Thanos. But for some reason he couldn’t concentrate.

Maybe it was because the SAT was boring as hell. Or maybe it was because it had only been a month since Thanos was killed and he was finally getting back into the grove of school. Or maybe it was because Peter was feeling fidgety and he had been through so much that solving inequalities and reading poems about some dead guy wasn’t doing it anymore.

Peter gave a frustrated sigh and reminded himself that if he didn’t get a decent score on his SAT he was going to end up as Mr. Stark’s intern for the rest of his life. Which didn’t sound so bad after all. Though the idea of being a 40 year old intern did freak him out a bit.

Peter stood up and put his SAT book on the bed, promising that he would get to it later. He grabbed a cassette that Quill had given him and that had been titled The Best of the 80’s. Tony had scoffed at the idea, but Peter had been grateful. He had even managed to find a cassette player at a garage sale in Brooklynn.

He placed the cassette inside and immediately the band Journey started playing. Peter started humming the lyrics while ignoring the pile on homework that he had failed to work on. Even though he had been ‘dead’ for several months apparently that was not a valid excuse for his teachers.

Thanos had been killed a month ago and since then the city had been quiet. The biggest thing that Peter had worked on was a stolen bike. Not even the Avengers had contacted him, well except for his mentor, but that was only to ask him if he knew a good Chinese place in Queens.

Peter was so bored that he couldn’t believe that he was actually hoping that some crime would take place as bad as it sounded. Peter sniffed the air. It smelled like tomato sauce and pasta and it smelled surprisingly edible.

It took Peter a moment for her to realize that today was the day that May’s new boyfriend was coming over. She had been gushing to Peter all week, he couldn’t believe that he had forgotten, but he had a lot of things on his mind-like failing his SAT’s.

May hadn’t had a boyfriend since Ben had died. She had dated of course, but nothing serious and it never went past the first date or two. Peter could tell that May thought that this man was the “one” because Peter was actually meeting him.

May had told him before that she would never introduce Peter to a complete jackass. If Peter was finally meeting this famous boyfriend then that meant that it was serious. Peter stepped out of his room to go into the kitchen where May was hastily trying to make garlic bread.

“Pete, honey!” May said hurriedly. “Could you help me set the table? Scott is going to be here any minute and I still have to fix this.” She pointed to her messy hair that was held back by three pencils and a Hello Kitty hair clip.

“Sure.” Peter said as he started setting the table. He opened the fridge and pulled out the butter. “So this thing with Scott seems pretty serious.”

“We just started seeing each other.” May said quickly. “But I’m convince he’s not a complete asshole. You’ll love him Pete, I know you will.”

“You have good taste, May.” Peter reassured his nervous aunt as May added way too much tomato sauce to the pasta. “I’m sure he and I will get along just fine. Um, May you didn’t tell him about the whole. . .Spiderman thing right?”

“Of course not,” May said, sounding almost offended. “That’s not my secret to tell, you tell him when you’re ready. If you want to.” The doorbell rang and May gave a nervous shriek as she went to the bathroom to rearrange her hair leaving Peter to open the door.

He opened the door and saw a tall, broad man with blond hair and wearing a blue cardigan and holding a bouquet of flowers. He smiled at Peter, nervously. “Hi, you must be the famous Peter that May keeps talking about. I’m Scott McDaniel.” He offered Peter his hand.

“Hi,” Peter said as he shook Scott’s hand. He felt a chill down his spine and he frowned. Why was his spidey sense tingling? Was their danger? His ears perked up, but nothing. Weird.

“Peter, are you ok?” Scott looked concerned as he let go off Peter’s hand.

Peter forced a smile, trying to ignore the weird moment that had happened between them just now. “I’m sorry, I just have a little headache. Come on in.”

Scott stepped inside and looked around. “You and your aunt have a beautiful home, Peter. I’m glad that May is not keeping you to herself anymore.”

Peter laughed as May came in, she had a pretty flush on her cheeks as she kissed Scott. Peter looked away feeling embarrassed. May took the flowers. “Scott, I see you’ve finally meet Peter. I’m glad that I have my two boys under the same roof. Come let’s have dinner.”

Halfway through their dinner Scott directed a question to Peter as he tore into a piece of garlic bread. “So Peter tell me about your exciting life as a high school junior. Sports? Cute girlfriend?”

Peter nearly choked on his pasta, the only “sport” that him and Ned played was running to the comic book store after school. “No. No girlfriend and me and footballs don’t get along.” Scott frowned and there was an awkward silence.

May broke it by quickly chirping. “Peter is a straight A student Scott, he’s on the decathlon team I think this time they are going to Nationals in DC right, Peter?”

Peter nodded. “Mr. Harrington says we have a good chance of winning this year.”

“Awesome.” Scott said dryly as he began talking to May about a trip he wanted to take to Napa Valley.

Dinner ended soon after, May told Peter that they were going to catch a movie and if Peter wanted to come. Peter declined and told them that he had a lot of SAT prep problems to study for. Scott almost looked relieved.

“It was nice meeting you.” Peter quipped politely.

Scott nodded as he placed a hand on May’s waist. “See you later, kid.” He closed the door and Peter found himself alone. He sighed, that hadn’t gone as well as he had hoped, but he seemed nice enough. If May was happy then he was happy.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Peter was concentrating so hard that he almost bit off his lip. When he was really concentrating, he focused all of his attention on that one thing. He also had the habit of biting his bottom lip. Thank god for his healing abilities, otherwise he would have been walking with a busted lip for everyone to see.

He had been so focused in connecting two wires that had fallen apart in his Iron Spider suit that he didn’t even noticed that Tony was talking to him until he used his thumb and index finger to flick his forehead to get his attention.

“Earth to Peter, Bruce has been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes.” He cocked his head to the side and motioned to Banner who was the latest victim of Peter fan boying over him. “Lunch is ready. So leave the suit and come have lunch before you pass out and Pepper bites my head off.”

Peter smiled and he felt his heart swelling in happiness as he joined Tony and Bruce at the table. They had been doing this since Thanos had been killed, each Saturday Happy would pick Peter up in Queens and the three of them would have a science bros day. When Tony had told him, Peter had thought that it had been a cruel April Fool’s joke, but Tony assured him that it was not.

Tony had ordered an array of burgers, fries, and the occasional salad. Bruce was currently stuffing his face with a McChicken. Peter grabbed a cheeseburger while Tony squeezed the packet of ketchup all over his fries.

Tony handed Peter a drink and Peter sipped, only to cough it back almost immediately. Tony winced as he took the cup away from him. “Sorry, that’s mine. Here.” He handed Peter a Sunny D.

“So Peter’s how’s school going?” Bruce asked as he reached for a second chicken burger.

Peter shrugged. “School is school. I just want the SAT’s to be over.” He wasn’t taking the exam for another couple of months, yet MJ was already bombarding him and Ned with text messages about creating a study group since they had already lost so much school during the snap.

Tony rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe that you’re worried about that stupid test. It’s easy.”

Bruce interrupted him dryly. “Forgive Tony, Peter he doesn’t seem to remember that not everyone is a genius like him. I can help you study, just let me know when your test is. We will form study groups, and flashcards-“

“Excuse me, why should you help him when he had a certified genius standing in front of him.”

“I’m not exactly a high school dropout, Tony.”

While they continued to bicker, Peter’s cell phone rang and he noticed that he had a text message from May.

 **May** : Scott surprised me with tickets to a play. Would Happy or Tony be able to give you a ride back to the apartment? Let me know. Love you!

May usually picked him up from HQ to avoid Happy from giving him another ride into the city. It was also a time for them to spend time together and sing along to embarrassing karaoke songs.

“Who’s that?” Tony asked as he looked through his own text messages. “That MC girl who is obsessed with you?” Bruce threw him a scolding look as he threw him a fry. “What? It was a joke.”

Peter felt the blush leave his cheeks. “Actually would you or Happy mind giving me a ride back to Queens? May won’t be able to pick me up. She and her boyfriend Scott are going to the theater.”

“Lang?” Tony choked on his drink. “Didn’t see that coming, though both of you are insects-“

“No not Mr. Lang,” Peter said carefully. “Scott McDaniel. He’s Aunt May’s new boyfriend.”

Bruce and Tony exchanged looks. “What is he like? What does he do?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know him that well, we barely meet over dinner the other night.”

Tony finished off the last of his fries. “Why don’t you stay the night? We have a lot to do anyway.”

Peter’s ears perked up and he looked at his mentor with such admiration that it was downright embarrassing. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not,” Tony brushed it off. “Your room is next to Vision’s.”

* * *

 

The next morning after a breakfast of slightly burnt pancakes from Vision and a package of Italian cookies for May courtesy of Pepper, Peter found himself waiting outside of Avengers HQ for May.

“There she is, kid.” Tony said pointing to a dark green jeep.

Peter frowned. May drove a baby blue station wagon that she had owned since she was in high school and promised not to part with it until the day that she died. “That’s not my aunt’s car.” The car stopped in front of them and that’s when Peter noticed Scott driving without Aunt May next to him

“Pete,” Scott said as he lowered down the passenger side window. “Are you ready? It’s a long drive.”

Peter shifted his feet. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, especially since he had just met the guy and he seemed like a nice enough guy. “Hey. Where’s Aunt May?”

“Her old car just gave up on her and she asked me to pick you up.” he raised an eyebrow. “Problem?”

Peter nodded, hating how jumpy he was acting. Peter decided to brush off the conversation by motioning to Tony next to him who was being weirdly polite. “Scott this is Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark this is Scott, May’s boyfriend.”

The two men exchanged pleasantries that to Peter sounded like they belonged in a commercial. Tony raised an eyebrow. “You got everything, Peter?” Peter nodded as he thanked him for the billionth time causing Tony to blush and to wave him away.

Scott and Peter were on their way back to Queens in the next five minutes. Scott lowered down the music that was playing. “What’s with the fan obsession?” he asked referring to Peter and Tony. “You looked at him as if he were some kind of God.”

Peter blushed. Maybe Sam was right and he could be a bit embarrassing. “I just really admire him,” he said clearing his throat. “Mr. Stark has helped me out so much and he’s so smart-“

“I’m sure he is,” Scott said interrupting him. “But don’t you think you should be doing something else other than wasting your time?”

“Well it’s an internship,” Peter argued. “And you never know, Mr. Stark has great connections. They can offer me a job during college or after college.” He had never shown much interest in college, but he didn’t want Scott to have the last word in the conversation.

“You’re young, college is light years away.” He started entering the city. “What you should be doing is finding a part time job after school. So you can help May pay the bills.”

Guilt settled in Peter’s chest. “I know.” He paused. May always talked about how expensive everything was, especially while living in New York, but she had always forbid Peter from working, asking him to focus on his school work instead. “Maybe I could get a job at Mr. Delmar’s bodega.”

Scott smiled as he parked in front of their apartment’s garage. “Atta boy.”

May ran towards them as she exited the apartment. “There are my two favorite boys.” She said as they got out of the car. She kissed Peter on the cheek. “How was Tony’s?”

Scott pressed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Oh great, Pete was telling me all about it. Weren’t you Peter?”

Peter swallowed hard as he looked at May’s lovely smiling face. “Yes, it was epic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my loves, I appreciate it!


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

After the night that he had spent with Mr. Stark, Peter didn’t leave Queens for a month. It wasn’t because he was busy practicing questions for the decathlon meetings or because he was being a friendly neighborhood Spiderman or because he was avoiding Mr. Stark.

In fact Mr. Stark was offended at the prospect of being rejected so many times that he had actually told Peter to call him when his scheduled had cleared up. Peter had been too busy and too tired to recognize the hurt and sarcasm in his mentor’s tone.

After Scott had brought it up that he should get a job to help his stressed out Aunt, Peter had done just that. At first Aunt May had protested to the high heavens telling Peter that he should concentrate on school and researching colleges (and privately she told him about the whole Spiderman thing.) But with a bit of coaxing from the ever charming Scott and recognizing the familiar stubborn look on Peter’s face May had finally agreed.

Though she warned him that the second that his grades dropped he would be sent to the nearest military school. Peter had rolled his eyes at the veiled threat earning him a raised eyebrow from Scott that immediately caused Peter to stop the action.

Peter’s plan had been to get a job at Mr. Delmar’s bodega, but Mr. Delmar had informed him that he already had all the help that he could need with his daughter and son in law working behind the counter.

Peter had quickly found another job at a large grocery store in Queen re stocking items in and putting them in and out of the freezer. Peter often had to wear two scarves and special gloves to keep from freezing to death. He didn’t know if it was because of his Spidey side or because he was too sensitive, but he seemed to feel the cold more than his other co workers.

He spend most of his afternoons unpacking freezing groceries and putting them in fridges. Most of the time he was too tired to patrol, but he forced himself to go out at least four times a week even if he had to crawl into bed past eleven o’clock.

Peter was thankful that May was either at the hospital on a late night shift or staying over at Scott’s apartment. Otherwise, she would have ended up scolding him. His shift at the grocery store sucked, but he made a little bit more money than the average minimum wage worker.

His pay helped pay for the light and water bill. At first May had refused to take his money, but Scott had coaxed her telling her that Peter needed to learn some responsibility. May had only agreed once Peter promised her that he would keep half his paycheck so that he could buy whatever he wanted.

“-Peter. Earth to Peter.” Peter was falling nearly head first into his bowl of cheerios as Aunt May looked at him worriedly. “Honey, you look so tired. What time did you go to bed?”

“Uh, late. I have a Chemistry test today.” Peter lied. He had told May that he had been at Ned’s all evening studying for a Chemistry test when in reality he had been stopping a robbery that had gotten a bit messy. Thankfully, no one had gotten hurt.

May looked concern as she put down the milk on the table. “Are you sure that you are doing alright, Pete? Maybe you should cut down on your hours, or you could work in the summer-“

“No.” Peter said rather sharply, almost rude. He blushed when he saw the worried look on his Aunt’s face. “No, I’m sorry Aunt May I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just I’m handling it ok, it just takes a little getting used to. I’ll be ok.” The last thing he wanted was for Scott think that he couldn’t handle it, even if May vowed to support Peter until after college.

May ran a hand through his soft curls. “I just don’t want you to overexert yourself.” May said gently. “I can handle the bills, Peter although money may be a little tight sometime, we won’t starve Peter.”

Peter looked at his bowl of cereal. It wasn’t about starving it was about the fact that Scott was right. He wasn’t a child any longer and he couldn’t rely on May forever, besides college was just around the corner and college was expensive. “I know, May.” He said softly. “Sorry, I’m just a little cranky about this test. I will be alright after it’s over.”

May brightened as she kissed Peter’s forehead. “Alright, my sweet boy. Good luck on your test.”

After that May left for work in the familiar pink scrubs and Peter quickly finished of his breakfast and headed on the familiar route towards school. His cell phone rang and he frowned at the caller ID-Mr. Stark.

Tony had only called him a handful of times. Had Thanos been reborn? Had Captain Marvel gone mad? Those were the only reasons that Peter thought that Tony would have called. “Hello, Mr. Stark?” he started babbling. “What’s wrong? Who died?”

“Whoa, kid ease up a little, no one died.” Tony practically screeched. “Are you that traumatized?”

“Well, could you blame me if I was.” Peter said dryly. After everything that had happened, losing his parents, losing his uncle, becoming Spiderman, turning into dust, reviving-Peter wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up in a mental institution.

“Fair point.” There was a pause. “Listen, Pete is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Peter sounded surprised. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I-“ he trailed off. “We haven’t seen or heard from you in a couple of weeks. Happy was afraid that you’ve fallen into a ditch. I’m trying to convince him that, that wasn’t true.”

Peter almost smiled, was Mr. Stark actually admitting that he kind of missed him? “Nothing that dramatic. I got an after school job and with school and being a friendly, neighborhood Spiderman well things have gotten crazy.”

Peter could almost hear Tony breathing a sigh of relief. “Well, if you could spare some time tomorrow from your busy schedule, Bruce would like to speak to you.”

He was off tomorrow, which was rare. “Count me in. What are we working on?”

“I’m not spilling kid,” Tony was smiling. “See you tomorrow, kid.”

* * *

 

Blood, he was covered in blood, but for the life of him he didn’t know where he was bleeding. He took off his mask, believing that if he did it will make looking for the spot that was actively bleeding easier to search.

Peter was hiding in the alleyway next to his apartment. “Karen,” he choked out. “Where am I bleeding?”

Peter had been on his way home, when he had stopped an attempted murder of a seemingly innocent sixty-year-old man. Peter had rounded up the assigned killer and had managed to keep both of them in check until the cops had come, but the would-be murderer had pulled up quite a fight and had stabbed Peter in his middle section various of times.

“You are bleeding near your liver and left intestine,” Karen said calmly. “Your healing abilities are stopping the bleeding; would you like me to call emergency services? It is recommended.”

“No!” he forced himself to breath as he found his backpack that he hid behind an old washer. He managed to slip out of his suit and into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Peter forced his breathing to calm down. He could feel his healing abilities doing their job and the pain wasn’t as bad.

Peter looked at his watch. It was one in the morning. Fuck. May was going to murder him. How had he not noticed so much time had passed by? Peter forced himself to wait fifteen more minutes, by that time most of his wounds had healed and he didn’t feel like passing out.

He crawled up to his bedroom and breathed a sigh of relief when he reached his bedroom. The apartment was quiet. Maybe he wouldn’t get killed today. The door opened and he saw someone standing there with a stony expression. At first he thought it was Mr. Stark, but it wasn’t.

It was Scott.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my darlings, I truly appreciate your support!


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been way too long my babies, all I can say is that I'm sorry and thank you for understanding : )

**Chapter Four**

Peter tried very hard not to panic, but in Peter’s defense he was a very panicky person and not a very good liar. Besides what was a good excuse for a teenager to be out at 1 in the morning. He suddenly wished that he had answered May’s frantic phone calls, but he didn’t think that was a good idea while he was stopping a would be murderer. Now he was seriously regretting it.

 What was Scott doing here anyway? He knew that him and May had gotten closer, but sometimes if felt like Scott generally disliked Peter and chose to spend time with May in his own apartment. Why did he have to be here today of all days he was bloody and looked like a teenage rebel?

“Uh, Scott hi,” Peter tried to sound calm even though his ribs were really hurting and he could feel his foot swelling in his sneakers. “How are you? Long time no see man.”

Scott didn’t answer at first as he stepped into Peter’s room. Peter managed to throw his backpack that held his clothes and a bunch of bloody tissues on the bed as casually as possible. Peter’s palms were sweating, he couldn’t remember the last time that he had felt this nervous. Maybe when Thanos was around.

Peter didn’t know why he was so nervous. Scott was human and Peter was well, Spiderman. If he needed to he could defend himself. Hell, he could break Scott’s neck if he wanted to. Scott was standing so close to Peter that Peter could feel the hotness of his breath. “Where the hell were you, Peter?”

Peter gulped. It was too late to say that he was at Ned’s and he didn’t want to get Ned into trouble. “Your aunt and I have been looking for you everywhere. She’s nearly hysterical. She’s running wild in Queens.” Peter felt his heart drop slightly. “Where the hell were you, Peter?” he asked again.

“I was outside. I lost track of time. I’m so-“

The slap came so fast that Peter even with his spidey sense didn’t see it comping. The slap was hard and it stung against Peter’s cheek. Scott’s slap caused his head to move slightly. He felt his eyes watering for a few moments. He had never been hit before. May or Ben have never even spanked him before.

Scott gripped him by the neck as he pressed him against the wall. “Don’t let it happen again, Pete.” His fingers dug against his neck until the pale skin turned pink. For a moment Peter froze and he couldn’t think. He felt as if his brain cells were screaming and yet his body was frozen with no movement.

Peter heard the door of the apartment open and Scott removed his hand from Peter’s throat and May came running in. Her pretty face was flushed and she caressed Peter’s face. “Peter, are you ok? Are you hurt? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“I-I-“ he trailed off. “I lost track of time and my phone died. I’m sorry, May.”

May relaxed a little and she hugged him even tighter. “It’s ok, Pete just don’t scare me like that again, baby.”

* * *

 

Peter woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon. He sat up silently, he heard May and Scott whisper so quietly that Peter could barely hear them and frankly Peter didn’t care. There was one bright spot in his day. He was working with Mr. Stark today after weeks of not being able to.

He heard Scott say goodbye to May and he cringed at the sound of Scott’s kiss. He rubbed his throat, strangely it still felt sore as if Scott had grabbed him by the throat seconds ago. Maybe he was just imagining things.

He didn’t tell May yesterday what happened with Scott and he couldn’t find the words to tell her right now after Scott had left. Maybe Scott hadn’t mean it, maybe he was feeling overprotective like Mr. Stark, maybe it was just a fluke and Peter needed to stop being such a big baby about it.

He got dressed in a pair of jeans and T shirt. Happy was going to pick him up in 30 minutes and he didn’t like to be kept waiting. Peter inspected his neck, it was still a little pink, but no bruising.

Peter briefly glanced at the photo of his parents. May had found it in one of her old boxes and thought Peter would like to have it. To him it felt like looking at strangers because Peter hardly remember them. His mother was skinny like Peter with short black hair and blue eyes. He was the spitting image of his father, Richard though from the dark hair to the brown eyes. May had briefly said they were CIA agents, but nothing else and Peter didn’t care enough to ask more.

He went outside and saw May staring at her cup of coffee. She didn’t look angry so that was a plus. “Hey Sunshine.”

“Hi,” Peter said as he looked around. “Where’s Scott?”

“He went to work.” May had told Peter that Scott worked for a moving company. “Come sit down and have some breakfast. Scott made some eggs and bacon.”

“I’m not hungry.” Peter said as he sat down. “I’m really sorry about yesterday, May I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“I assume it was superhero stuff?”  Peter nodded. “I figured. Next time, Peter just text me or something so I’m not convinced that you are lying in a ditch somewhere. Scott and I were worried.”

Peter nodded as May kissed his forehead. “I’m going with Mr. Stark today. Happy is going to pick me up.”

“Good, you earned a break. Scott has to work late today, how about wings for dinner? You’re looking a little pale.”

“Wings sound great, May. I will see you at six.” He grabbed his backpack and his suit. Happy was already outside munching on a harsh brown. “Hey, Happy.”

“Hi.” Happy said as he started the engine. “You’re late.”

“Sorry, I was talking to my aunt.”

He perked up and the annoyance left his voice. “How is May?” Peter and Happy chatted about May (which Happy seemed weirdly interested about) for the majority of the 30 minute journey.

“So what’s on the agenda today?” Peter felt himself getting excited. “Weapons training with Miss Romanoff? Sparring with Captain Rogers and Mr. Barnes?”

Happy snorted. “Nothing that exciting, you’re getting a physical with Dr. Banner.”

“A what?”

“A physical.” Happy looked at Peter’s disappointed face in the review mirror. “Now don’t pout. I’m sure Tony has some other things planned, but that is the main event. They want to see how your amazing spider body works.”

Peter leaned back against his seat. This was not how he imagined his day was going to be like.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Peter knew that it was childish, but he couldn’t help, but pout even if he was sure that Happy was rolling his eyes in front of him. A physical? He had been so excited about spending some time with Mr. Stark and instead he had to waste his day off work spending it with Dr. Banner.

Not that Peter didn’t like Dr. Banner, he did but he knew of better things to do on a day off. The air conditioning hit Peter’s face the minute that he came in. “Second floor, third door on the left, kid.” Happy said.

“Where do I-“

“Second floor, third door. It’s easy, get Friday to help you out.” Happy said crisply as he turned his back on Peter to answer his ringing phone. Peter gave an irritated sigh and he hoped that his bad mood would evaporate. It wasn’t Dr. Banner’s fault that he was going to be stuck doing a physical today.

Dr. Banner had been reading a copy of US Weekly and munching on a chocolate chip cookie when Peter entered the room and Peter gave him a weak smile. “Peter!” he gave Peter a hug, surprising him. “Nice to finally see you again! Considering everything that-“ he trailed off, giving Peter an awkward smile.

“Yeah, Thanos.” Peter shifted uncomfortably. “Where is Mr. Stark?”

“Pepper dragged him to some meeting in the city,” Bruce said as he started getting everything ready. Peter winced as he saw the needles. He could take bullets in the chest, but he freaked out when he saw needles. God, he was such a baby. “He should be back in an hour. We should be done by then and then you and Tony can focus on whatever it is you’re working on. Oh, and don’t kill the messenger, but this wasn’t my idea.”

“It was Mr. Stark’s?” Peter was both surprised and hurt. He hated being treated like he was some kind of in defensive child even if he was under age. If Bruce noticed the disappointment in his voice he didn’t notice. “Why?”

“He wants to know more about you, Peter. The spider part of you.” Bruce smiled as he started checking Peter’s ears and eyes. “You might not think so, but Tony is quite a worrywart.”

He winced as Bruce got a needle and took out some of his blood. He was gentle, though. “Not a fan of needles?”

“No.” he admitted with a shaky laugh. “Give me a bullet any other day of the week.”

Bruce chuckled. “You’re just like the others, there will be one day when you will not be able to rely on brute strength.” He checked his pulse and heart. “Hey, Peter I know that the last months have been difficult for lack of a better word, but how have you’ve been feeling, mentally I mean? Have you’ve been feeling anxious? Depressed?”

Peter thought back to Thanos. How he felt himself slipping. The scared look in Mr. Stark’s eyes. Waking up and getting used to being alive again. Waking up in the middle of the night out of breath and anxious. Scott entering so soon into their lives. His eyes on Peter every time he quipped at May. His hands on his throat-“

“Peter, Pete.” Bruce interrupted his train of thoughts gently. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, Dr. Banner. I just spaced out because of the whole needle thing.” He gave him a brittle smile. “I’m fine, Dr. B, happy as a clam. What’s next?”

“That’s it.” Dr. Banner said. “Tony will input your blood in Friday’s system. In case anything happens and let’s hope that it doesn’t then we will have all that information to us available. You know just in case of emergencies, so we don’t overdose you.”

“Well, this was fine.” Peter said as he put on his jacket. “We should do this again some time.”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “You and Tony are made for each other. He’s in lab number 3, fifth floor.” He paused. “Peter, what’s that on your neck?”

Peter could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise up, crap were the fingermarks still there. He had been hoping that they were gone. He checked himself in the mirror and saw there the marks on his neck were still slightly pink. He counted five. “They are hickeys.” He flushed as he looked at the floor. “From kissing.”

“Oh,” Dr. Banner looked equally embarrassed and didn’t bother looking at them any closer. “Thank you for the clarification. Well, Peter you are a growing boy and what you choose to do is your business, but there is some pamphlets for you to read.” Bruce said and Peter basically shoved the safe sex pamphlets in his bag. He would never hear the end of it if Tony saw them.

Peter pulled up his jacket up to hide the fingermarks on his neck as he knocked on the door. Queen was playing so loud, he felt like his ears were going to fall off.

“Parker!” Tony called out over the loud music. “Get your ass in here.”

“Hi,” Peter said as he looked at the table in front of Tony, it was covered with so many high tech gear that Peter felt like he was inside a Best Buy. “What are we working on today?”

“First thing first,” Tony said as he offered Peter a licorice stick. “You didn’t put up much a fuss with Bruce, right? I know it’s annoying, but it’s for your own good kid.”

Peter flushed. “Of course not.” Why did Tony think he was an unruly toddler?

“Good,” Tony said as he started flickering through the screens until he landed on one that said PETER B. Parker. Peter saw different styles of the suit in front of him. “I was thinking we could work on a new suit for you today.”

“Why?” Peter was generally curious. “I like the Iron Spider suit.”

“Aw, I’m flattered.” Tony pretended to be touched. “But that doesn’t mean that we can’t make it better. Besides it’s good to have a few extra suits just in case something happens. Believe me, I speak from experience and this time you are going to built it from scratch. Based on my technology of course.”

Peter’s eyes widened when he saw all of the options that Tony offered for his new suit. Hidden weapons, different materials for the suit, language translation, poison repellants. Tony puffed up his chest. “It’s like Build a Bear. You choose what you want to add, just stick with the red and blue. It’s a classic.”

“Wow,” Peter said as he touched the screen. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

Tony looked slightly embarrassed. “It’s not that big of a deal, kid.”

For the next three hours they worked in silence, until Tony told him that they should take a break for Thai food. Peter picked at his rice while Tony scarfed down his food. “I have to say, kid. I’m glad you came here, you look less anxious.”

Peter stiffened. “Was I anxious before?”

“No, just worried.” Tony said gently. “Look, Pete I know that the last few months have been hard for you, but they will get better. Trust me, soon you won’t remember Thanos.”


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not too happy about how this chapter turned out, I apologize if this was a little boring. Thanks for reading!

**Chapter Six**

Peter felt like he was slowly being strangled to death. It was not a pleasant feeling and he felt the grip around his throat feeling tighter and tighter. Sometimes it was Thanos that was strangling him. Other times it was Scott, but whoever his foe was the grip was always deadly and suffocating. Peter almost prayed for death sometimes.

He was tired. He was so goddamn tired of well everything really. He felt like he hadn’t really moved on. Peter couldn’t move on, that was the problem. Everyone seemed to move on except for him. It was mind blowing, not to mention exhausting.

“. . .Peter. Peter. Wake up, Peter!”

Peters brown eyes opened as he stood there shaking. He felt like his whole body was covered in sweat and he was staring at the confused and worried eyes of Tony Stark. It took him a while to realize where he was.

After spending the night tinkering around with Tony in his lab, he had invited Peter to spend the night. Peter had said yes and had quickly called his manager at his job and told him that he wouldn’t be able to come in because he was sick.

It was a little while lie, but who hadn’t said a little white lie in their lives? Besides Peter was usually very responsible and he wanted to spend a day more with the Avengers. Was that so bad of him?

Apparently yes, because he now felt like he was dying of embarrassment. Tony was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. He looked like he was minutes away from calling Bruce to make sure that Peter didn’t need to spend time in a mental ward.

It took Peter a moment to realize where he was. He was back at the compound, in the room that Mr. Stark had decorated for him with cheesy Star Wars decorations. “Mr. Stark. . .” Peter fumbled feeling like an idiot.

Tony passed a hand through his sweaty curls and made Peter feel like he was four years old again. “I’m here, kid. You’re here in the compound. You’re safe. You were screaming.” He paused. “Were you having a nightmare?”

Peter flushed feeling embarrassed. “A little. Go back to bed, Mr. Stark. I’m sorry for waking you up.”

Tony shook his head as he sat at the edge of his bed. “Are you nuts? There is absolutely no need to apologize, kid. Especially for something that is beyond your control.” He paused. “Are you ok? Do you need some water?”

Peter shook his head. “No, I’m fine. Thank you for being here and stuff.”

Tony looked slightly embarrassed at the mushy exchanged of words. “No problem kid, anytime. Are you sure that you’re ok? You would tell me if anything was wrong right?”

Peter nodded, blushing. “Of course. I’m fine, Mr. Stark. These dreams don’t happen often. It’s a once in a while thing.” Tony didn’t know what to tell him and he didn’t seem like he believed him, but he didn’t want to push him either.

Tony placed a hand on Peter’s head. “Good night, kid.”

* * *

 

The next morning Peter couldn’t wait to get out of the compounds. Maybe if he left sooner, he could pretend that this whole embarrassing ordeal had never happened. He had gulped down half a bowl of Lucky Charms and asked Happy to take him home, which Happy had agreed to.

“Leaving so soon?” Tony asked as Peter waited for Happy outside of the compound. Tony was dressed in jeans and a T shirt.

“Yes, I have homework and a Spanish test on Tuesday.” Peter said and Tony nodded, he still had that concerned look that irritated Peter. “Thanks for letting me stay the night.”

“Anytime, kid. Call me when you have your next day off so you can come to the compound.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Happy drove in silence, it seemed that both of them had things on their mind. “Stay safe, kid and say hello to your aunt for me, ok?”

Peter nodded and waved goodbye to Happy. When he got into his apartment May and Scott were talking excitedly and May was wearing her favorite red shorts. “Peter! Honey! You’re back.” May kissed him on the cheek. “How was the night at Tony’s?”

“Fine.” He hugged her back, he relaxed when he smelled her sweet perfume. “Are you guys going out?”

“Central Park.” Scott said. “May is dying to see some outdoor band. Would you like to come along?” Peter didn’t know if Scott was being nice or sarcastic. Either way the idea of being in crowded Central Park with May and Scott all day to Peter it didn’t seem like fun.

Peter shook his head. “No, you guys go ahead. I have a Spanish test that I need to study for. You guys go have fun.”

May kissed him once again on the cheek and promise to bring pizza for him once the concert finish. Peter felt himself relax when May and Scott left the room.

Peter walked around the apartment feeling bored even though he did have a Spanish test that he needed to study for. He looked down the row of pictures that May had crammed in a shelf and that Peter found embarrassing.

There were baby pictures of Peter, pictures of Peter as a toddler with jam all over his face, Peter and Ben at the Yankees game, school graduations, etc. . .. In the center of the shelf was a picture of Peter’s parents: Mary and Richard Parker.

Peter thought he looked more like his father, though he had his mother’s eyes. Peter felt his heart aching. His parents had died when he was a toddler and he could hardly remember them. He couldn’t help, but feel his heart aching. He didn’t know much about his parents, he had asked Ben and May once or twice when he had been growing up, but they had never elaborated. All he knew was that they had died in a tragic accident.

He loved May and Ben, but he wished that he could have meet his parents and  grown up with them. Maybe he wouldn’t be in this situation that he was now.

 _Stop it,_ he scolded himself _, stop being such a baby_. _May has been almost like a mom to you. She lost Ben. She’s allowed to move on._

“Parker! Open up!” There was a knock on the door and Peter perked up as he opened the door. He saw MJ and Ned. Peter smiled. “What are you guys doing here?”

“This dweeb told me that you had the day off,” MJ said as her and Ned enter the apartment. “Let’s go to the movies.”

Ned nodded. “Come on, man you haven’t gotten a day off in weeks and this new movie is really cool it has mystery and great actors-“

“-And murder and torture.”

Peter laughed, “Let’s go. I haven’t seen any torture movies in a while.”


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write, I hate causing harm to my baby Peter : ( I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter Seven**

Peter was flying in the air, using his webslingers to sling from building to building. Even though he had been Spiderman for more than a year he still enjoyed overlooking New York. He would never get tired of looking at the people and the tiny cars zipping by.

Especially after the whole Thanos mess, it just made him feel more alive. Everything seemed to finally return back to normal. No more deaths. No more pain. No more disasters. It seemed that they were finally starting over and Peter couldn’t be gladder.

“Peter,” Karen’s voice chirped in it’s usual maternal, kind way. “I wanted to congratulate you because you have saved your 100,000th person from either a robbery or injury during your shifts. Not including the people that you saved when fighthing Thanos.  I have sent a report to the boss as well. Congratulations, Peter. I am very proud of you.”

A grin appeared on Peter’s face. His 100,000th person? That was good. It wasn’t Iron Man good, but it was still very good. He felt his heart jumping inside his chest, 100, 000th people were better off because of him. God, that felt good. It was just the little pick me up that Peter needed.

He decided to cut his parole short today, he wanted to take May out for ice cream to celebrate. Maybe they could go to their favorite place by that Italian place. He wanted to get Rocky Road ice cream or maybe Chocolate Chip ice cream. Whatever flavor he got, he just wanted to celebrate with May.

Peter practically burst into his apartment, his cheeks were flushed bright pink with excitement. “May, May guess what-“ Peter stopped short when he saw May and Scott in the living room. Scott was standing besides May and May was sitting on the couch looking slightly embarrassed and with a cast from the top of her right shoulder to her wrist.

Peter gaped as he raced towards her. “Oh my god, May what happened? Are you ok? Why didn’t you call me, I would have skipped decathlon practice-“

“Don’t get hysterical,” Scott replied, an edge to his voice. “We just arrived from the ER. We didn’t have time to call you.”

“Pete, sweetheart it’s ok. Just breath.” May said as she kissed him on the cheek. “Your dear aunt tried to act like a teenager again when Scott took me to the indoor skating rink in Brooklyn. I slipped all of a sudden and broke my right shoulder and arm. Poor Scott had to take me to the hospital, we had to be there for hours.”

“But you’re ok, right?” Peter’s beating heart seemed to relax and all thoughts of ice cream were erased from his mind. “How long are you going to have the cast? Can you still work in the hospital?”

May ruffled his hair with her left hand, Peter had always been a little worrywart like Mary. “I’m fine, sweetheart and yes, I am still going to be able to go to work. I already spoke to the hospital and I’m afraid that I will be stuck doing paperwork for a while, but I will survive. I should have the cast for 2 to 3 months. Let’s pray for two. Now erase that worry look from your face, you’ll get wrinkles.”

“I’m just glad that you’re ok, May.” Peter hugged his aunt. “And don’t worry, I will help you with whatever you need. You don’t even need to ask-“

“That’s nice of you, Peter.” Scott said as he wrapped in his arms around May’s shoulder. “But I don’t want you to worry, you already have so much going on with your after school job and school. Besides May is going to need someone to help her with the shower and grocery shopping and that’s where I come in.”

Peter froze. No, he wasn’t saying, he couldn’t possibly-

May gave Peter a small, apologetic smile. “Peter, darling Scott and I talked about it and I am going to need some extra help. You already have so much going on, I don’t want to ruin that for you.” May said quickly. “It’s only going to be until the cast is off and you get to keep your own room, Peter. Scott will share with me.”

Peter felt his heart sink, all the happiness that he had felt just minutes before seemed to evaporate. He couldn’t even fathom the idea of him and Scott living in the same tiny apartment for at least two months. Especially since he was 98 percent sure that Scott heavily disliked him. Maybe he could avoid him for two months. But avoid him, how?

“Wow, that’s just wow.” Peter said slowly. He didn’t know what else to say.

May looked at him. “Peter, honey was there something you wanted to tell me? You seemed excited when you got here”

“No, it’s nothing.” He said weakly. “Will you excuse me? I have a lot of homework that I have to get done.”

* * *

 

Apparently, the hospital had given May some pretty strong drugs to deal with the pain in her arm because as soon as dinner was over she was heavily passed out in her bed and Peter had draped a blanket over her.

Peter exited the room and tried his best not to feel awkward even though he wasn’t used to having guests over. He saw that Scott was carefully studying the row of family pictures. “Who are they, Peter?” he was pointing to the picture of Mary and Richard Parker.

“They are-were my parents,” Peter said slowly. “They died when I was a child. After they died I came to live with Ben and May.”

“Hmm,” he said slowly. “Why didn’t Ben and May have children of their own?”

“I don’t know.” He never really asked Ben, Ben and May always said that Peter was enough for both of them, even though Peter had often felt lonely as a child.

“Maybe they weren’t planning on having children until you came along,” Scott said cruelly. “It’s rare that a couple only has their adopted nephew and no biological children don’t you think?”

Peter shrugged. Ben and May had never made Peter feel unwelcomed, but now Peter wondered if Scott was right and if May and Ben had never planned on having children until Peter came along and ruined things. He remembered that May and Ben were always talking about traveling to Paris, but there never seemed to be any money there was always school clothes that needed to be bought and grocery items that never seemed to last in a house with a growing child.

“Peter, you might as well know that there are going to be some ground rules while I’m staying here,” Scott said as he sat down in one of the chairs of the dining room table. “I know your aunt thinks you’re this reliable, responsible person, but the fact is that you’re still a teenager and I know how teenagers can be.” Scott raised an eyebrow, “So while I’m staying here there will be no more sneaking in or out, homework needs to be completed before you go to sleep and before any entertainment, and you are only allowed to see your friends or that Tony Stark person on the weekends and you better have your own ride. Is that understood?”

Peter flushed pink in annoyance. Scott was treating him like some naughty three-year-old. He had no idea what Peter had gone through or what he was capable of.

Scott stood up and stood very close to Peter, he was only a few inches taller, but he made Peter feel very small. “I said is that clear?”

“Yes.” He finally found his voice.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

Peter felt exhausted as he finished his fourth shift of the week at the grocery store. Who knew that he could get more tired just by stocking shelves in the grocery store and being in the freezer for six hours a day than being Spiderman.

He waved goodbye to one of his co workers as he went towards his familiar path home, it was almost nine at night and he still had his English essay and math worksheet to do and the only thing that he wanted to do crawl into bed and go to sleep.

Peter briefly thought about patrolling, but then decided that he didn’t want to risk it because of what had happened last time that he had gone on patrol. It had been two weeks since Scott had come to live with them ever since May’s accident. It seemed that both Peter and Scott were avoiding each other and that was the only good thing about the situation.

Other than the occasional snide comment, Scott mostly left Peter alone for which Peter was grateful. He had also taken extra shifts at the grocery store to avoid Scott on the weekends if he was being completely honest, though May and Scott were usually not home on the weekends. Scott felt so bad that she had injured herself skating that he took her to the movies and to get ice cream.

His cell phone rang and he saw that it was Tony, Peter sighed and clicked ignore. He felt bad that he was ignoring the billionaire, but he knew what he was going to ask, when are you coming back to HQ? And Peter couldn’t exactly respond when my aunt’s asshole boyfriend leaves.

When Peter got home he saw that May and Scott were in May’s bedroom and the TV was slowly playing in the background. Scott was asleep with a pillow covering his face, May whispered, “Welcome home, Peter.”

“Hi May. How’s the arm?”

May gave a small shrug, “Oh, you know the pain pills don’t seem to be working, I still feel like my arm is made of broken glass. It was a pretty bad fall, I’m going to the doctor tomorrow to see if they can give me something stronger. I need to get some sleep.” She smiled. “I left some dinner on the stove.”

“I’m actually not very hungry,” Peter admitted. “I’m just very tired and I have a lot of homework.”

“You’re working too hard,” May scolded slightly, “You need to rest, Peter you’re not a middle age man, Peter.”

“Not yet anyway.” Peter joked, he relaxed slightly. Their conversation made him think of how things had been before. “Good night, May.”

“Good night, baby.”

* * *

 

“You’re deep in thought,” Steve said as he looked at Tony who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. They were in Tony’s lab going over the details for the new shield that Tony wanted to create for Steve. Though to be honest they hadn’t been getting much work done, which in all honesty didn’t surprised Steve, but Tony was never this distracted. “Are you ok?”

“Fine.” Tony admitted. He didn’t want to admit to Steve that he was worried about Peter and his lack of communication. Peter didn’t owe anything to Tony after all, and besides he was sure that Peter was busy with his nerdy activities. “Just peachy, hey I was thinking we should have the kid over this summer. Maybe he can stay over, him and Wanda can share bunk beds.”

Steve’s furrowed his eyebrows. “The kid? Why?”

“So he can get some training done.” Tony said as if it should have been obvious. “The kid’s good, but it’s been a few months since Thanos, he’s starting to get a little rusty.”

Steve snorted. “I know that’s hard to realize, but it’s a good thing that he’s getting rusty. It means that he can live like a normal teenager again. Sure, we don’t mind having the squirt here, besides there is something all of us can teach him.” He paused. “What is your relationship with him? You two seemed awfully close.”

Tony paused. What was his relationship with Peter? He’s gone from superhero recruiter to mentor to boss. He wasn’t so sure, besides their relationship was in it’s weird stage because the sense of impending doom that bonded them together was done. “He’s my intern.” He blurted out. “But also all his father figures seem to die on him so I have that going for me.” Steve looked perplexed, but didn’t ask him to elaborate.

“The kid hasn’t been here for a while.”

“I know,” Tony said trying not to sound too disappointed. “I think he’s busy with his after school job or his saving the whales protests or something else that I can’t remember.”

* * *

 

“. . .Parker. Wake the fuck up, Parker. Pa-“ someone was jabbing him in the shoulder when all he wanted was to continue sleeping. He had a feeling it was Happy or Sam messing with him.

“Mr. Parker, could you please grace us with your presence?!” a voice said irritated.

Peter’s brown eyes shot open and he stared at the angry eyes of Mr. Wilson his pre-calculus teacher. Mr. Wilson was a short, angry man who Peter had never seen smile during the entire semester. As it turned out it was MJ that had been poking him with a pencil and who was now snorting in his direction, but she looked slightly sorry for him.

Peter ached with tiredness, he hadn’t gotten to bed until 3am as he frantically finished his homework. He gave Mr. Wilson an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Mr. Wilson.”

“This is the third time, Mr. Parker.” Mr. Wilson said as he scribbled on the pink detention slip. “I suggest that you stop playing Minecraft or whatever you kids do today and go to bed at a reasonable time. If this happens again, you will be speaking with the principal.”

Peter’s face flushed pink as he mumbled an apology and Mr. Wilson ignored him and started talking about the homework that was due tomorrow. MJ turned towards Peter. “Hey, I’ll keep you company during detention.”

“You have Decathlon practice today.”

MJ shrugged. “I can reschedule, I am the captain. Besides I kind of need you, loser.” Peter smiled as he started putting his stuff away.

True to her word, MJ stayed with Peter during his entire hour long detention. May called him as soon as he left the building. “Hi honey,” May sounded out of breath. “Did practice just finish.”

“Yes,” Peter lied. “I’m on my way home.”

“Great, honey listen I got stuck in the hospital, a nurse called in sick and I’m covering her for a few hours until the replacement comes in. There’s a meatloaf in the fridge.”

Peter cringed, May’s meat loafs were never good. “Thanks, May.”

“See you tomorrow, Parker.” MJ chewed on a piece of gum and handed one to Peter. “Get some sleep. Otherwise, people are going to start to talk and you and I know that some of these kids don’t know how to use their brains. Later.”

“Later, MJ thanks for staying!”

“Just don’t make a habit of it.”

Thankfully, Peter didn’t have a shift today so he went on parol for two hours (three kittens and a kid were saved from incoming traffic) before heading home. He was so hungry, May’s meatloaf actually sounded good.

He opened the door of his apartment and saw Scott standing there with an angry expression and holding a belt in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh! I left you guys on a cliffhanger! Thank you so much for your support and patience!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience, babies!

**Chapter Nine**

Peter’s throat felt tight as he looked at the belt in his hand that he was gripping with such force that he was surprised that Scott hadn’t ripped it in two already. Peter licked his lips and he could taste the salt from the sweat on his upper lip. Damn, he was sweating already.

He was Spiderman. He had fought against Thanos, and yet what was it about Scott that as soon as he saw him he felt himself sweating and wanting to curl up in a little ball. He was pathetic that was what he was. No wonder Flash shoved him against a locker every other day.

“Scott, you’re back.” Peter suddenly felt weak. “You’re back. You’re back early.” Peter knew that he was stammering but he couldn’t help it. His eyes just continued to go to the belt. Peter suddenly remember how hard Scott had slap him, somehow, he thought that this wasn’t going to be just a quick slap.

Scott didn’t answer, his face was still cold. “Where were you? Peter, answer me! I won’t ask again!” a shiver ran down his spine. His brain seemed to be screaming answers at him. What should he tell him? That he was in detention? Helping the poor? Playing legos with Ned?

“I was at decathlon practice.” Peter finally blurted out, but it can clear that Scott didn’t believe him. He slapped the belt down on the table and Peter flinched at the sound. “I-“

“Don’t lie to me,” Scott growled. “I’ll give you one more chance because I’m a very generous guy. Where the hell were you?”

Peter tried to hide his trembling voice. His Spidey sense was going off at full speed and Peter knew that it wasn’t wrong. It was clear to Peter now that Scott hated him. Well, to be honest he had never liked him in the first place, but he finally saw the hatred in his eyes. “I was at decathlon practice-“

“Don’t lie to me!” Scott snarled, his face turning pink from the screaming. “I know that you got detention for sleeping in class again. This is not the first time Peter and this is not the first time that you lied to me or your aunt about it so now I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

The belt went flying and Peter’s first instinct was to grip it in his hand to prevent it from hitting its neck. He weakly let it go when he saw that this only made Scott even madder. _Just let him. It will be over soon, Peter. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. Aunt May loves him. May needs him._

The belt fell again across his arms and torso, but mostly against his back. That’s where Scott seems to target most of the whips. His back. Peter had super human strength and usually he could take a punch, but right now he was missing the adrenaline that usually came with the fighting. 

Now Peter felt everything. He felt as the belt fell several times. He felt as the belt seemed to cut his skin. He felt the sting and pain as his skin swelled. He felt everything.

His eyes watered a bit and Scott was breathing heavily, but Peter was determined not to cry. Scott let the belt fall on the floor. “Go to your room, your aunt is going to be coming in any second now.” Peter suddenly wasn’t very hungry. “Peter, you better not get another detention and you better not lie to me again. Next time it will be worse for you.”

Scott didn’t even wait for a response, instead he pushed him against the wall not caring for his sore skin. Scott opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. When it was clear that he didn’t care about Peter, Peter shuffled towards his room and locked the door.

In the privacy of his own room Peter let the hot tears fall. He felt so humiliated. Sad. Confused. In pain. Peter slowly removed his shirt and studied his back in the mirror. There were belt marks across his back that were a deep red, towards his lower back they were slightly purple.

“Come on Peter, you’ve almost died how many times now?” he mumbled to himself. “You can handle this. You can handle this.”

* * *

 

Scott told May that he was asleep that he had a bad headache and had gone to bed. When May had wanted to check up on him, he insisted that he needed rest. Usually May would still check on Peter no matter how Scott had protested, but maybe Scott was such a sweet talker that May didn’t come check up on him that night and Peter was secretly glad.

His entire back burned like it had been set on fire and he was sure that his skin was swollen. His eyes were red and he felt so exhausted. Peter was glad that May hadn’t come in otherwise she would know that something was wrong and Peter didn’t want to tell her.

He didn’t know why he didn’t want to tell her exactly, he just didn’t. He felt uncomfortable about it. Peter didn’t want to come off as a whiny kid either. Maybe he did deserve it. After all he shouldn’t be falling asleep in class. Beside it wasn’t like he could fight off Scott either, he could find out he was Spiderman or Peter could accidently hurt him.

The next afternoon during his last period Biology class, Peter’s class was outside picking flowers for an experiment. “This is stupid,” MJ said as she plucked a daisy. “We are destroying the eco system for a stupid experiment.”

Ned snorted. “It’s just one flower, MJ. I’m so hungry.” He whined. “Does anyone have any food? Beef jerky? Chocolate?” MJ handed him the flower and Ned playfully slapped him away. MJ chuckled as she grabbed her daisy and headed towards the rest of the group where the teacher was waiting for them.

“Are you ready, Peter?” Ned noticed that Peter was pale and he had a pinched look on his face. Peter perked up and bend down to pick up a handful of flowers. His shirt rose up and Ned noticed the marks on Peter’s back. “Dude! What happened to your back? There are marks all over your back and you’re bruised.”

“Oh,” Peter stuttered as he tried to come up with an explanation. “I was patrolling and-I-I got slammed against a trash can and there were a bunch of angry cats. . . and they will heal.” Peter finally finished weakly. The truth was he was a little concerned. It had been hours already and wounds like these usually healed in the first two hours.

“Are you ok?” Ned looked concerned. “They look painful. Maybe you should go to the nurse or Dr. Banner-“

“No!” Peter snapped more harshly that he wanted to. He grabbed the daisies and headed back towards the building. “I’m fine. It’s just taking a little while to heal. I’m fine, let’s just go. I don’t need another detention.”

* * *

 

Peter called in sick for his work, the idea of being stuck in an ice cold freezer putting milk away for 4 hours made him cringed. All he wanted to do was crawl into bed and put an ice pack on his back. He just hoped that Scott and May weren’t home. He really needed a nap and to come up with a better story of why he was acting all funny.

He opened the door of the apartment and heard Scott talking. “. . .yeah, traffic in Queens sucks, it’s like everyone had a car now.”

Peter opened the door and saw a man in a three piece suit drinking cheap beer in his living room pretending to be interested in what Scott was saying. Mr. Stark.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience, darlings you guys are awesome!

** Chapter Ten **

Peter could feel his palms starting to sweat. What was Mr. Stark doing here? Why had he come? Had Ned blabbered? Was the earth coming to an end? Did Mr. Stark have his own spidey sense and had come to save Peter from a complete asshole that for some reason Peter couldn’t stand up to?

Tony looked relieved that Peter had shown up. “Hey, Kid I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes. Why don’t you answer your phone?”

“I thought you had work,” Scott said with a grimaced. He looked annoyed that Peter had interrupted his conversation with Tony, even though Mr. Stark had practically fallen asleep mid conversation.

“The boss gave my shift to Paul, he is uh, saving up for business school so I have the afternoon off.” For a few seconds, Peter forgot about his injured back. It seemed like old times, finally. Tony used to come pick Peter up for a wild (but age appropriate) adventures all the time, but after Thanos and after Scott entered the picture he had been keeping his distance.

Peter shrugged as he tried to look casual. He went to the fridge and opened a coke. The bubbly sweetness seemed to force Peter to relax and allowed him to clear his mind. The last thing that he needed was to word vomit something that needed to be kept deep inside. “How can I help you, Mr. Stark?”

Tony looked amused by Peter’s formality. Peter was no longer as formal as he used to be back when he had first meet him. “I was telling Skipper-“

“Scott.”

“-Sorry Scott, I was telling Scott since you had the afternoon off that maybe you would like to come up to HQ with me,” he raised an eyebrow. “To talk about the winter internship. What do you say?”

Peter’s heart started to swell up with excitement, he hadn’t seen Tony or been to HQ in weeks. The idea of spending time with Tony instead of hiding up in his room was a huge plus. “I would love to, Mr. Stark,” he looked at Scott nervously. “Can I go?”

Much to his surprise Scott nodded, it seemed that even he didn’t have the balls to say no to Tony Stark. “Sure of course you can go, Peter.”

“Thank you,” Tony said in a strange, fake polite voice that seemed odd even to Peter. “I’ll even chip in dinner, come on Pete. You can have dinner with me and Pep.” Tony motioned Peter to come outside and Peter started babbling almost immediately.

“Wow, Mr. Stark I didn’t know you were even here. I didn’t see your car or Happy.”

“I gave Happy the day off, it wouldn’t kill me to drive my own car every once in a while.” Tony shrugged as they went into the bitterly cold air and towards a very nice sports car that everyone was gawking over. “He just downloaded Tinder and apparently he is a celebrity with all the middle age ladies in New York. Why didn’t you tell me that your aunt had an accident? I could have send Bruce or Helen to take a look at her. Honestly, Peter you should tell me these things every once in a while.”

Peter shrugged, he was too happy to feel guilty as they left Queens. It felt good, he felt as if all his problems had gone away as soon as he had left the city. It was nice to live in bliss even if it was for a little while. If he was going to HQ maybe Bruce would have something for his injured back that had started itching. He would have to invent another story though, he doubted that Dr. Banner would fall for the “cats attacked me” story.

For the rest of the trip, Tony and Peter talked about pleasantries. They talked about the wedding venues that him and Pepper were thinking about for the wedding. Tony wanted Las Vegas and Pepper wanted something classier like the Hamptons. Peter talked about his job at the grocery store and Tony seemed personally offended when he described the putting away groceries process. “Kid, you do know that I can pay you for a fake internship.” Tony said through a raised eyebrow. “Hell, I’ll pay you for patrolling if you promise you wont be spending hours after school putting away eggs and milk.”

“It builds character,” Peter said bravely as they entered HQ. “Besides I can totally do your internship during winter break.”

“I don’t want you to overexert yourself,” Tony warned as he parked the car. “Your aunt will kill me. Do you want to hear what we-or rather you’ll be doing instead?”

Peter nodded trying not to look like a little kid at Christmas. “Well, all of us are getting a little rusty since Thanos bit the dust so I though we would have a little training session. You, me, and Natasha will be on one team and Rogers, Barnes, and Wanda on the other.”

“Just like last time.”

“Call it Stockholm syndrome.” Tony said with a shrug. “So, are you in? Bruce was too much of a coward and he offered to judge instead.” Peter nodded. “Ok, underoos go change in your room. We’re meet in training room 5. Bring your A game, Parker. I don’t want a repeat of last year.”

Fifteen minutes later Peter was dressed in his outfit, the tightness of the material of the outfit made his injured back even more uncomfortable, but he tried to ignore it. He was fighting with the Avengers for crying out loud, he couldn’t chicken out because his back hurt.

“Peter,” Natasha said, she was caressing her favorite knives. “Glad you could make it. Ready for the rematch?”

Peter smiled, “You got it.”

Bucky snorted. “I’m not going to make it as easy for you, Kid.”

Peter said cheekily. “I would like to see you try.” He was all talk though, he was starting to feel a bit dizzy and his back still hurt. He desperately wanted an ice pack, but he didn’t want to look like a wimp.

“Save the talk for the playground, kids. In position everyone!” Tony said as everyone got into position. Tony, Peter, and Natasha on one side and Steve, Bucky, and Wanda on the other.

Bruce was standing in the private box above the training area. “In my defense, I don’t think that this is a good idea, are you sure that-“

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Just start Bruce, we’re not going to kill each other.” Bruce pressed the button and a loud beep was heard.

Peter took a step and was prepared to Spiderweb himself into the ceiling when everything went black.

* * *

 

“. . .Peter, Peter wake up-“

“Get Bruce now!”

“Tony, Tony let him breath-“

Peter’s eyes fluttered opened and he saw a bunch of concerned faces looking at him. Tony looked like he wanted to throw up. He wanted to comfort him, tell him that he was fine, but Bruce injected something in him, and everything went dark again.


End file.
